Acupuncture is thousands of years old.  Tattoos indicating acupuncture points were found on the mummified remains of  "Otzi", a man who died over 5,300 years ago on the Italian-Austrian mountainous border, whose remains were preserved in a glacier. The 'iceman' had tattooed dots where we would locate acupuncture points that are useful for back and leg pain, and xrays confirm some osteoarthritis that could have been helped by such points. While some people believe the practice of acupuncture originated in China, the finding of Otzi in what is now Italy indicates that the Chinese were not the only people who practiced this ancient healing art. 

There is evidence of acupuncture being practiced in ancient China, long before the oldest books we have from about 200 BC. Estimates are that acupuncture was practiced more than 5,000 years ago.   As old as the practice is, there are probably thousands of ways to do acupuncture.  Two styles most commonly found in the US are TCM and Five Element Acupuncture.  

How Does Acupuncture Work?

Read more: ACUPUNCTURE 101

Some of  the latest scientific evidence.

Watch videos about acupuncture: 

• Part 1. 
• Part 2 (includes a demonstration). 

Read some testimonials here.

People in the US understand Western Medicine.  You go to the doctor when you are sick, once, maybe twice if you are really sick, and you wait a long time to be seen.  The doctor sees you briefly, maybe a couple of minutes, and gives you a prescription, and then you go buy the medicine and take as directed.  You might need to take a lot of drugs, which may not help very much, and might make you have side effects that are almost as bad as the original symptom.

Western MD's (including DC's) have several things they can do to make you feel better:

• give lifestyle advice
  
• prescribe pharmaceuticals
• perform surgery or other physical manipulation (including chiropractic)
  
• perform diagnostic medical exams (including bloodwork, pap smears, MRI's, etc.)

Sometimes a diagnosis becomes a label in the Western Medicine system, one that is hard to shake off.

To keep things in perspective when you are comparing Western Medicine to Acupuncture, consider that Western Medicine as you know it dates to the last century, and most of what we consider modern practices were adopted quite recently.  Compare this to the legacy of Chinese medicine, which has been practiced over thousands of years. 

Of course, everyone knows that Western Medicine works, and that there is a lot of research to support this.  Except that this is not necessarily the case.  Read about how 40% of the articles in medical journals is unsubstantiated public relations for the big pharmaceuticals.

Chinese Medicine is often misunderstood because so few people have any experience with it, and have mostly seen it portrayed in movies and on TV.  Here is a comparison of the scope of practice for practitioners of Chinese Medicine.  Practitioners of Chinese Medicine, including acupuncturists:

• give lifestyle advice
• prescribe, create and distribute herbal medicine
  
• perform acupuncture, cupping, bodywork (massage called Tui Na, or osteopathic manipulation called Zero Balancing)
• perform diagnostic exams (including pulse examination)
  

The biggest obstacle to most people getting acupuncture is that they don't understand it, or have any idea how it could help them with their symptoms and complaints.  The simplest summary is that acupuncture is a way to give your body the resources to heal itself.  It is very powerful, and it works really well in many circumstances. It works not only on the physical level, but has transformative effects on the spirit, mind, and emotions.

Choose a Licensed Acupuncturist, not a "Medical Acupuncturist".

How Acupuncture is Different from Western Medicine
Here's how acupuncture is different from Western Medicine as practiced in most places in the US.

1. Acupuncture is used traditionally as preventative medicine, and also is very useful when you are sick and in pain.
2. Acupuncture is useful for chronic illnesses and many symptoms that a doctor's care is not helping you with - from migraines to chronic fatigue to the side effects of cancer treatment. It is also useful for acute symptoms, including allergies, an oncoming illness such as the cold or flu (when you are first 'coming down' with it, make an appointment that day and it might be prevented altogether or reduced in severity).  Read about what else acupuncture can treat.
   
3. A course of treatments is usually needed, meaning 5-6 treatments at *least* before you see improvement, and up to 10 treatments depending on how long you've been sick, how serious your condition is, and your commitment to changing the causes of your illness in your life.  At the beginning, the practitioner may recommend that you come in several times a week for the first few weeks.    Read about frequency of treatments.
   
4. The practitioner will spend a lot of time with you, especially initially when they are determining how to treat you.
5. Acupuncture tends to have many beneficial side effects, and may reduce symptoms unrelated to your original complaint.

Similarities with Western Medical Professionals:

• Licensed acupuncturists spend a lot of time in training.  These days you must have a bachelor's degree in the US to enter the graduate studies of acupuncture.  Getting a Master's degree in Acupuncture today will take 3-4 years and require 1900-2500 hours of education.   Other medical practitioners might be able to use acupuncture needles with far less training, such as 250-300 hours, and now some states are considering requiring that physicians and chiropractors who do "Medical Acupuncture" be required to satisfy the same requirements as acupuncturists.  
  
• In most states, an acupuncturist is regulated by a state board, often the same state board as other medical professionals.
• In most states, acupuncturists are required to meet educational requirements as listed above, to show certification in "Clean Needle Technique," to take comprehensive national board exams in BioMedicine and various aspects of acupuncture, and to continue to take CEUs. 
  
• The practice of acupuncture is rigorously regulated in our litigious society.  While risks have been shown to be minimal, acupuncturists are still required to carry malpractice insurance.
  
• Acupuncture may or may not be covered by health insurance, and most insurance companies limit practitioner visits as they do with other types of medicine.  Many practitioners of Chinese have found that it is not useful to work with insurance companies, as the providers often do not reimburse in a timely manner and seem to deny claims whenever possible, creating additional barriers to getting paid for service rendered according to the insurer's rules.